I want to get out of the editorial line of this blog a bit to write an article in which, first, I will tell you why cigarettes should not be extinguished in pots, and secondly, what can be done to protect plants and deter smokers from putting tobacco on the land owned by our pampered ones.
And it is that, although what I am going to say may be obvious, there are surely people who do not know it, and given the importance of the question, I will talk a lot about it.
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Why shouldn’t you?
Image – Flordeplanta.com.ar
Well, the shortest and easiest to understand answer is: Why do the roots burn?. As simple as that. But why does the plant die? I can’t help but feel bad when I pass, for example, in front of a bar with a terrace, where a few flower boxes have been placed which end up being filled with extinguished cigarettes.
Although at first it may appear that the roots have suffered no damage, since the plants appear green and healthy, depending on the size of the container and how long it has been there, it may take more or less time to show obvious symptoms that something is wrong. To understand it a little better I made this drawing which is very simple but which will help me for what I want to explain:
The plants grow larger as the roots grow.. This is why it is so important to transplant them when we see that the container has become too small for them; that is, when they have roots sticking out of the pot. And, of course, once in their new container, those roots will begin to fill the space they have.
So, if we put out a cigarette in the soil of a large pot where a plant has recently been transplanted, it is likely that it will not suffer much damage. But If we do it in a small pot, or in a pot where said plant has existed for a long time, then it will struggle. And all the same, if you are used to putting it in pots, the size of the pots will not matter: the plants will suffer a lot from overheating that will occur too close to their roots, and they could die.
And things get complicated if said pot is plastic.. Besides the fact that it is a material that burns quickly, if we are still lucky that it remains intact, the root system of the plant will burn, because the temperature of the interior, that is- that is to say, from what is inside the earth will increase considerably.
Depending on the plant in question, its roots will more or less resist the heat: those of cacti can still withstand 50-55°C for a short period, those of maples have difficulty if they exceed 30°C. A lit cigarette, according to the Medical Writing portal, has a temperature of about 800ºC; that is, even the most heat-resistant plant could not withstand this. For this reason, I repeat, do not put out your cigarette in the soil of your pots if there are one or more plants in them.
What damage do cigarettes cause to plants?
If we take into account that the roots are those responsible for absorbing water and nutrients from the soil so that they can then be transported to the rest of the parts of the plants, such as the branches, leaves and flowers, we can get an idea of what can happen to them when their root system burns. Exact: they will die. And they can do it pretty quickly too.
The leaves will wither, the flowers will abort, the branches, if any, will spoil.even in some cases -especially if it happens in summer- it can kill a pest like scale insects, which will take advantage of the plant’s weakness to feed on its sap.
Can they be saved?
Much depends on how damaged it is. If we see that it is already very dry, that we even scratch ourselves with our fingernails or that we break a small piece of branch and that we do not see that it is green, we cannot do anything about it.. But things change if a single cigarette has gone out: in this case, it will simply be necessary to remove it and sprinkle with fresh water (but not cold, i.e. around 20°C) .
If a few cigarettes have died out, but the plant continues to keep its green leaves, it is best to remove it from this pot and plant it in another with new soil (note: we will not remove what is in its roots. In other words: the root ball will remain intact).
What to do so that people do not extinguish the cigarette in your pots?
Well, I’m not a smoker; in fact, I suspect I have a tobacco smoke allergy. But what I think we should do is somehow protect the plants so people can’t put their cigarettes in the ground. And what can we do? Well for example protect them by putting plastic nets (on sale here) on said land.
Of course, that alone can’t do much. So it will be necessary to propose an alternative, such as putting ashtrays, or even a pot with earth but no plants. The latter, for example, I saw in a bar, and due to the amount of cigarette butts there, it seemed to work for them.
So, I hope this article will help plants to be calmer when smokers come home.